Exhibitors At 7th Muslim World Biz Must Ready To Fulfill Export Demand

By Azizul Ahmad KUALA LUMPUR, July 28 (Bernama) -- The exhibitors, especially the locals, at the 7th Muslim World Biz must be ready to fulfil the export demand from trade buyers and visitors, said organiser, Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) International Business Centre. Chief Executive Officer, Muhammad Raja Talib Dr Raja Mohamad, said the supply capacity was the main concern. "The challenges in the past were that some of the local companies could not meet the demand. "We have quality trade buyers that sometimes want to buy something like 20 to 30 containers of the products, but unfortunately our local entrepreneurs were not able to supply the volume," he told Bernama on the sidelines of the group's Hari Raya (Eid ul-Fitr) open house here Thursday. The Muslim World Biz, themed 'Turning Visions Into Realities', will be held from Oct 18-22 at the Putra World Trade Centre here. It will highlight key areas such as education, banking, healthcare, takaful, property, transport and also tourism. The leading trade exhibition and conference in the Muslim world will have 1,000 booths and 300 companies and 1,500 delegates from 30 countries are expected to participate. The seventh edition of the exposition is a platform for businesses from various sectors to tap the Muslim market. Talib said the Muslim market was big as Muslims currently comprised over 25 per cent of the global population. "Total trade transactions among OIC countries are currently estimated at US$800 billion (US$1=RM4.05)," said Talib. The organiser expected the value of business transactions this year to rise by only ten per cent from US$300 million last year, he said. He said companies from China will participate this year and South Korea, which will participated for the third time, will bring in 30 companies. "Last year we received 20,000 visitors. This year, we are targeting 23,000 local and foreign visitors, especially from Asia and West Asia. We expect 3,000 business-matching sessions at the event," he said. "Therefore, before any local companies participate in our programme, we now advise them to get ready on the supply side. The companies must dare to take risks and be nconfident of their products," said Talib. -- BERNAMA